Better Late Than Never

To say that it has been a while since I posted, is, well, obvious. I am trying to find my new rhythm. My prior job allowed me much more free time during the week. But this job affords me very little free time. Which is both good and bad. I am always busy here, and I still have so much to learn.

Unlike insurance, the procedures and regulations I work with aren’t changed by a few governing bodies. Here, any Tom, Dick, or Harry can come in and switch it up on a whim. I am held accountable for real time accounting. This is the largest part of what I do. You can’t dilly-dally with numbers. They are what they are unless my boss tells me something different. So during the work day, I am nose to the grindstone. I have to be paying attention and worrying about several things all day.

I am sitting in the very center of a chaotic, but mostly organized unit. I am literally dead center of four offices. To my right I have the VP, and my main boss. He reminds me of just about any “good old boy”, I have ever met. He is also hot tempered, and never lets the small stuff go. He cares about our individual happiness, and is very quick with a thank you or complement. He is a mass of contradictions. He drives a Chevy to work, but he has a Ford and a Toyota at home (all trucks of course). It took me my first month here to figure out that he yells for no other reason than his blood pressure is up. He yells and isn’t mad at all, it is just the way he talks. But when he is pissed, you know it. He won’t talk to you. He will let you trap yourself. He is unlike anyone I have ever worked with. I personally like him. Others in my office are afraid of him, but they just haven’t spent any time with him. He’s not a bad guy.

The three other men I work with have their own personality quirks. One is an engineer, the other a right hand man to the boss, and the last one is our man in the field. They are all very nice and like to be helpful. The funny part is, we have to work like a unit to get things done. We aren’t there yet. There is discord amongst the ranks. We all get along just fine, but I am coming aboard with the knowledge that our right hand man is retiring in a year from now. He jokingly said he was training me to replace him. I recoiled in horror at this. There is no way in hell I could deal with what he does. That thought alone makes my head explode. I can see myself here for many years. But I still have so much to learn.

As per usual, I have been busy at home too. Birthday parties, and exercising, and baby shower planning. I have kept my best friend’s news of her pregnancy under wraps for far too long. I am so excited to announce that at some point in late may early June, Leslie will be giving birth to my 4th nephew! His name is Brock, and as you can guess, I am already getting excited about a new baby to coo over.

The last one was my friend Sara’s little one. He’s now a year and then some. He’s still cute and squishy, but new baby smell is the best! As much as I wished she would have a frilly little girl that I could dress up in tulle and satin, I am just as excited to have another boy who loves dinosaurs and who I can take fishing at the nearby pond. My mind has been churning over ideas and details for the baby shower. My thoughts are pulling towards a co-ed shower. I know most men turn their noses up at the thought of a baby shower, but in my mind it makes sense.

Excluding men from this tradition is a poor practice in my mind. It’s not a bachelorette party. We aren’t hooting, hollering and carrying on. We are showering the mother and new baby with gifts to make sure that the baby and parents have everything they need and want. Why shouldn’t the father be in on that? I understand why the old tradition was women only. Because birthing a child was between the woman folk only. Doctors didn’t help during labor, midwives did. But that was before hospitals, where the tradition carried on to leave the men in the waiting room, and eventually this changed too. These days coed baby showers are normal. The father should be a part of everything involving the baby. Including the celebration. Plus it helps with uncomfortable family members and friends who are related to the dad but don’t really know anyone else. A baby is a blessing, I think everyone should be included in showing support and love for the new life. Plus, when it comes time to move all of the present, big strong men are needed… ;)

So that’s what I have been up to. Living. I will be able to find room to write in my days again soon. I just have to learn that even if I am getting home, cooking, and working out, I should still have one to two hours of blogging time. If I want this blogging and posting thing to happen, I had better find time to do it other than 8-5 Monday through Friday. Can you dig?

Idle hands? What is that?

I don't think I have been this happy that it is Friday in a long time. I have had a very busy week at my new job. We didn't have any holidays or half days to break up the week. I seems impossible that I have only been here 4 weeks, but the calender doesn't lie, and neither does my stress headaches or eye twitches. My job is built to be stressful. While the accounting that I do is thankfully simple, I also have to know what fingers I have in pies, which flavored pies those fingers are in, what time they were baked, how much they cost to make, and how much profit we will get. For extra fun, I need to know the type of crust and what brand flour. I don't work in a bakery, by the way. I work in metal buildings. If it were pies, it would be easier. I know what I am talking about when the subject is pies. Construction is out of my comfort zone. Slowly but surely, I am figuring it all out.

The bedroom remodel is complete! We have lovely cherry wood floors. The paint color looks good with the comforter and accessories we purchased. All is well! But, now that we have such a nice bedroom, we notice the hallway needs sprucing up. We have done a number on the walls over the past few Halloweens with decorations. We did have extra trim paint left... All we would need is some drywall spackle, a couple cans of paint, and maybe a couple new light fixtures. We also got a great deal on our bedroom floor. Taking up the tile won't be hard. You get where I am going with this don't you? Yep. We are going to work on our u-shaped hallway that leads to the front and garage doors. Like I said, we got the home improvement ball rolling finally.

This year is only two weeks old, and here we are accomplishing things. I have even mastered bread baking. Yes, it's true! I used to be a bread flunky. But thanks to one of my mom's gifts from Christmas (Average Joe Artisan Bread Kit), the wonder of one hour bread mixes, and my husband liking doughy bread, I have made several loves over the past few weeks. It's a miracle! Beebs is excited because he can think of very few things more satisfying than fresh from the oven bread. Now to think of a new cooking challenge. It used to be cheese cake, but I finally got that down. Now bread is out of the way, maybe I will learn how to master cheese making. That sounds like a tasty hobby.

2013 Is A Go

2012 was an eventful year for us here at The House of Beebs. I'm glad to have a fresh year to have adventures in. This year we have some exciting things coming up. For one, we have finally gotten rid of the horrible carpet we put in when we bought our house! My goal for last year was to remodel the master bathroom, but our bedroom needed the attention. But I think we finally have the home improvement ball rolling. This is a good thing. We are that much closer to our ultimate goal, the kitchen remodel.

My second Blogaversary is today! Two years of sharing my thoughts and drama. Gosh, how time flies when you are sharing your world via internet! As always, I am extremely thankful to every one who reads my posts and supports me in this hobby. Your enjoyment of my blathering is the bacon on my peanut butter waffle.

This year will be a good one. I just know it. I don't make a list of resolutions every New Year's Eve. I like to set goals for myself. Number one on my list this year is to lose more weight. I'm not going to set myself up for failure by saying how much I want to lose, I just want to be healthier. Last year was an eye opener. I had set a goal to eat healthier and like it, and we did. Even though it took 5 days in the hospital to really get me started.

My second goal is to get better at sewing. I stepped up my game this Christmas with hand painted pillows and an embellished blanket. But that's easy stuff. I want to find out what I can really do with my machine. I would like to try my hand at quilting eventually.

My third goal for this year is to write a whole story. I'm really good at writing a few chapters. I excel in having ideas on things to write. But I need something with a beginning, middle, and an end. It won't be award winning, but I'm hoping it will be entertaining.

2013 has already been great. We had a wonderful time with the majority of my favorite people on the planet. We are going to have a lovely newly redone bedroom within a few days. Our health is holding, and our spirits are high. I couldn't ask for more. Happy New Year indeed.